West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1887-09-02

Keeping close watch over the
plowpoint, and having it sharp, or
replacing, it frequently with new
one, will often save ten times the
cost Of the plow in labor.
In selecting an animal for breed
ing purposes always aim to secure
hardness. We have severe winters
and warm summers, and this should
never be overlooked.
To train flock Of sheep raise a
lamb at the house, teach it to come
when called, and then put it with
the flock. BY calling the petted
lamb the others will follow.
AS soon as the crop shall have been
removed from the garden plot plow
it, and allow no weeds to grow,
which will greatly lessen the garden
work next season.
1t is most essential that Il boar
should have constant liberty and
plenty Of green food.
Pick off the pears and allow them
to ripen in dark place. a pear is
ripe if it fall as soon as struck on
under side by the hand. They are
of much better favor if allowed to
ripen off the tree. No matter how
hard 4 pear may be it will soon be-
come mellow and Juicy when stored
away in 4 dark place.
On light soils. where it is difficult
to grow wheat or oats, cloverseed
should be sown in the fall, just after
the warm days shall be over and
the rains beginning. By so doing Il
good seated" can be secured, which
will avoid the necessity of sowing
in the spring with grain crop to
shade the young plant.
Now is the time to go into the
corn field and select the best ears for
seel. Examine the stalks als), the
number Of ears, the earliness and
kind of soil upon which they are
grown. Mark them, and allow them
to thoroughly dry on the stalk be
co.o to l. pU fh.p1 off
The necessity of keeping the
sheep on dry footing should not be
forgotten. A yard in which sheep
are kept should be one where there
is plenty of drainage. Wet footing
is the one thing that sheep will not
stand.
1t has been demonstrated that
calves pay better when kept until
ten or twelve weeks old than when
sold as soon as born. They will
give return for all the milk they
consume, as well as lessen the supply
of milk marketed.
At this season the preparations
should be made for fattening the
wethers and extra ewes intended for
market. Ifthey be separated from
the breeding flock and given all the
food they can eat better price and
heavier weight can be secured. The
market is never fully supplied with
fat sheep, which are usually sold on
the approach OF winter.
An Indiana farmer ordered every
bumblebee nest on his farm to be
burned, and persuaded his neigh
bors to assist in destroying all the
humble bees in his neighborhood.
He discovered his mistake the fol-
lowing year, as he could not raise 4
crop of cloversecd, the bees being
the agents by which the pollen is
carried from one blossom to the
other. =
1t is only matter of time for the
pasture to fail il it be not manurcd.
You cannot continue to obtain milk.
beef, mutton and wool from the pas
ture and give nothing back in return.
Yet pastures are used annually on
some farms with no effort madc Ia
recuperate them, and it will surely
end in exhaustion of the soil and
disappearance OF the grass.
The bones of well-bre,l, well-fed
hog are said torcpresent only aboui